USS Lang (FF-1060)

Lang was laid down by Todd Shipyards, Los Angeles Division, San Pedro, California, 25 March 1967; launched 17 February 1968; sponsored by Mrs. Ephraim P. Holmes, wife of Admiral Holmes, Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet, and Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic Fleet. Lang was delivered 20 March 1970 and commissioned 28 March 1970.

The Knox-class design was derived from the Brooke-class frigate modified to extend range and without a long-range missile system. The ships had an overall length of 438 feet (133.5 m), a beam of 47 feet (14.3 m) and a draft of 25 feet (7.6 m). They displaced 4,066 long tons (4,131 t) at full load. Their crew consisted of 13 officers and 211 enlisted men.[1]

The ships were equipped with one Westinghouse geared steam turbine that drove the single propeller shaft. The turbine was designed to produce 35,000 shaft horsepower (26,000 kW), using steam provided by 2 C-E boilers, to reach the designed speed of 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph). The Knox class had a range of 4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at a speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph).[2]

The Knox-class ships were armed with a 5"/54 caliber Mark 42 gun forward and a single 3-inch/50-caliber gun aft. They mounted an eight-round RUR-5 ASROC launcher between the 5-inch (127 mm) gun and the bridge. Close-range anti-submarine defense was provided by two twin 12.75-inch (324 mm) Mk 32 torpedo tubes. The ships were equipped with a torpedo-carrying DASH drone helicopter; its telescoping hangar and landing pad were positioned amidships aft of the mack. Beginning in the 1970s, the DASH was replaced by a SH-2 Seasprite LAMPS I helicopter and the hangar and landing deck were accordingly enlarged. Most ships also had the 3-inch (76 mm) gun replaced by an eight-cell BPDMS missile launcher in the early 1970s.[3]

On 17 October 1989, hours after the Loma Prieta earthquake, Lang left Treasure Island for Hunters Point, where she provided wet steam to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Through this effort, PG&E was able to quickly re-establish electrical services to San Francisco.[4] For this effort Lang and her crew were awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal, which was later expanded to include all military members in the San Francisco Bay area at the time.

Lang was decommissioned 12 December 1991, stricken from the Naval Vessel Register 11 January 1995, and sold for scrapping on 15 December 2001.

• Friedman, Norman (1982). U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-733-X.
• Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen & Budzbon, Przemysław (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

• Naval Vessel Register FF1060
• DANFS Lang II
• NavSource images
• Navysite.de
• Response To The Loma Prieta Earthquake Archived 23 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine